An Olympian who is eight months pregnant?

An Olympian who is eight months pregnant?

A Malaysian woman who is eight months pregnant will compete in 10-meter air rifle at the London Games. She found out she would be a mother just days after she found out she would be an Olympian.

Nur Suryani Mohammed Taibi is due in September. Perhaps feeling some of mom's Olympic excitement, the baby is kicking, and between deep breaths Taibi will ask her unborn child for restraint during competition Saturday.

"I will breathe in and breathe out and try to calm myself down and talk to baby: 'Behave yourself and help Mummy to shoot.' And luckily she understands. She always understands," Taibi told the Olympic news service.

She said she is aware she could got into labor any moment -- although she said she hopes to win an Olympic medal before the baby comes.

"If I won the medal, I will see this is as yours, as you helped Mummy so much," Taibi said, speaking of the baby. "Maybe you give me more strength, more stability and more confidence."

Being pregnant means the 29-year-old Taibi has to get in and out of a special suit and belt for practice, but that is only one challenge: She is also drawing overwhelming attention that threatens her concentration ahead of competition.

She said her husband helps her remain calm and focused on the positive.

"When you think negative things, it will give you more stress. Then it will make your anxiety greater, and then you cannot handle the stress and the situation," Taibi said. "It makes you less confident of yourself and less focused on yourself."

To her parents, the mom-to-be is already a champion.

"Whatever happens, I'm satisfied already," her father, Mohammed Taibi, told The Associated Press in a telephone interview Friday from the family home in northern Malaysia.

"I'm proud of her. I've told her: If you can compete in the Olympics, that's such an achievement already -- all the more when you're pregnant," "We're her family, so we support her. We'll be praying for her," he said.

He said he and Taibi's mother would be watching on television.

Taibi is ranked 47th in the world and won two golds at the Southeast Asian Games in 10-meter air rifle and 50-meter rifle in November. She finished fifth in 10-meter rifle at the Asian Championships in January to earn a spot on Malaysia's Olympic team.

Taibi also reached qualified for the 50-meter three-position event, but she decided against competing in two Olympic events.

What a flat salary cap in 2017-18 could mean for Blackhawks

What a flat salary cap in 2017-18 could mean for Blackhawks

Commissioner Gary Bettman revealed at the latest NHL's Board of Governors meeting that the projected ceiling for the 2017-18 campaign could be an increase between zero and $2 million, which isn't exactly encouraging considering the projection at this time of year is normally an optimistic one.

That means the salary cap may be closer to — or at — the $73 million it's at right now.

In the last four years, the cap has increased by $4.3 million in 2013-14, $4.7 million in 2014-15, $2.4 million in 2015-16 and $1.6 million in 2016-17. The number continues to descend, and it affects big-budget teams like the Blackhawks the most.

It makes it especially difficult for the Blackhawks to navigate because they own two of the highest paid players in the league in Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews, both of whom carry a $10.5 million cap hit through 2022-23. It's a great problem to have, though.

According to capfriendly.com, Chicago currently has $60.6 million tied up to 14 players — eight forwards, five defensemen and one goaltender — next season. If the cap stays the same, that means the Blackhawks must fill out the rest of their roster with fewer than $13 million to work with and still have to sign Artemi Panarin to a long-term extension.

And they may need to move salary to do it, with the potential cap overages crunching things even more.

On the open market, Panarin would probably be able to earn Vladimir Tarasenko money — a seven-year deal that carries a $7.5 million cap hit — but if he prefers to remain in Chicago, the contract would likely be in the range of Johnny Gaudreau's six-year deal with an annual average value of $6.75 million.

With the expansion draft looming, the Blackhawks know they're going to lose a player to Las Vegas in the offseason. The two likely candidates, as it stands, are Marcus Kruger and Trevor van Riemsdyk, and the former would free up $3 million in cap space while the latter $825,000.

If that won't get the job done, the Blackhawks may be forced to part ways with a core player such as Brent Seabrook and his eight-year, $55 million contract, although he has a full no-movement clause until 2021-22 and it would be very hard to imagine since you're trying to maximize your current championship window.

Anything is possible, however, after seeing promising young guys like Brandon Saad and Andrew Shaw shipped out of Chicago due to a tight budget.

It's a challenge general manager Stan Bowman has certainly already been thinking about, and a stagnant salary cap doesn't make things any easier.